poem | a very long time ago,

a very long time ago,

someone fell in love with a boy whose face looked like yours,

so much so that this face remained intact across thousands of years

across islands & land bridges & family trees that no longer exist,

across tribes whose names we have forgotten

yet amongst all this someone remembered the love they had for your face

so much so that they brought you along with them, & in this way preserved you

whether your small round self was being carried through the eons on someone's back

or you found a different sort of someone who had yours

& as your hands reach out across the sky of infinity they will eventually find me,

wearing a face that was never mine to begin with;

my future lover whose face I have not yet seen but already know,

I fear you will hold out your hand to me in an offering,

for I will have to confront the terrible possibility that you love me

just as much as or maybe even more than those who have loved you since

they first saw your face